Hello hello! I hope everyone's ok! Another chapter done! Thank you to those who reviewed, it's greatly appreciated! It's interesting to know what you're thinking.

I don't know how you'll find this chapter; to me it just feels as though its building up to the next chapter.

Enjoy:p

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Chapter 6

An empty silence fell between the two.

Kakashi felt awful.

Naruto had been as good as his word. He'd remained quite and still though what he had to say. He went further then that, he'd been asking Kakashi detailed questions.

He wanted Naruto to say something, anything.

"What is the Mangekyou Sharingan?" Naruto had asked after a long silence.

Shocked Kakashi looked up. Oh no…

"…Mangekyou Sharingan forces the victim to see whatever the user wants them to."

"And…what did I see?" Naruto said slowly, the effort clear in his voice.

Kakashi watched Naruto's face as the boy drew his gaze away from the town below them to find his only exposed eye.

He didn't want to say. He didn't want Naruto to hate him, but looking into his clear and trusting eyes Kakashi sighed. If he kept this to himself it would be solely for selfish reasons. At the moment he owed Naruto anything he could give him, and if this piece of information could help him remember then he had no choice…

He had told Naruto what he had been forced to witness.

The silence from that moment continued to stretch onwards, horribly awkward and guilt filled for Kakashi whilst Naruto sat seemingly lost in thought as he stared at the ground in front of him.

"Do you hate me?" Naruto said in a deadened voice.

Kakashi went cold.

"No, I've never hated you!" Kakashi said shocked.

Reaching out he put his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Naruto…you don't understand. You won't remember what it was like then, on that night. Everyone was in despair. The Kyuubi was attacking Konoha. There was nothing anyone could do, they were just trying to slow the Kyuubi down to buy the Hokage some time, he was the only one who could stop it." Kakashi paused. "Everyone was afraid of this thing that could not be stopped or harmed. Then it was sealed in you. People were afraid. The thing that had almost destroyed Konoha was now sleeping inside a young boy that lived within their town. It had made everyone so afraid that their fear didn't just go away. Their fear targeted you even though you didn't deserve it. Nothing can excuse what you were put though."

Naruto remained silent but Kakashi could tell he was still listening.

"But people see you Naruto, not the Kyuubi. Iruka, Sadamine, Ebisu, Jariya – (he was the white haired pervert, no don't look at me like that) – Tsunade, myself. The adults from that night know what's in you Naruto and they don't care. You're a good guy."

A weak smile curved the corner of on Naruto's mouth.

"I, I was always on my own. I didn't know why. All I knew was that I was different. Hated. But I didn't know why, and that was the worst thing I think." Naruto said hoarsely.

"You don't remember now but you have friends. There was this one guy, Gaara of the sand. Strange guy. He also had a demon within him. They were attacking Konoha but you stopped him before he joined the fight. You even made friends with him in a way." Kakashi said quietly smiling at the memory.

Naruto looked up. From the curve of his visible eye he could tell Kakashi was smiling.

For a while silence fell again but it was a different kind, lighter, easier, but still…he had never known the boy had been so alone. He had no friends.

None.

How had he survived? It was hard to believe that his first real friend had been Iruka.

No parents, no friends as well as being hated and feared. It was amazing that Naruto was even civil.

"So, when did I meet you?" Naruto asked as he ran his gaze over the town below them before turning to look at Kakashi. A spark of his old self seemed to have returned, only slightly, but it made Kakashi happy to see it.

"Huh. I became your teacher shortly after the academy graduation. At first you all looked like a bunch of anti-social misfits. You'd wedged a chalk eraser in the sliding door which hit me the moment I walked in." Kakashi said normally but he was secretly smiling as he looked sideways at Naruto trying to seem stern.

"Well, I don't remember that but your impression on me yesterday wasn't too great either. I dunno whether you realise this or not but with the mask and the one eye you look kinda freaky." Naruto laughed.

For a long time they were silent again. Naruto staring out over Konoha whilst Kakashi watched him from the corner of his eye.

"So. What now?" Naruto asked.

"There's no training today but it will be back to normal tomorrow. Getting back to normal might help you remember." Kakashi said, could almost visibly see Naruto's spirits fall.

"Your team's ok. You remember Sasuke and Sakura don't you?" Kakashi asked slyly. He'd never got to see any of his team's reaction when they first met each other.

"Wow! Sakura! But Sasuke! Awww." Naruto cried flicking between excited and depressed.

As Naruto went off on a rant to himself which basically included saying his team mates names over and over again, torn between pleased and disappointed Kakashi was drawn into thought again.

He was so resilient. He'd been wrong before when he thought he'd never seen Naruto sad. He'd been upset plenty of times, he just didn't dwell on it. He looked on the bright side.

"Naruto, how about I treat you to some Ramen? I'm sure Iruka wouldn't mind after the damage you've done to his bank balance." Kakashi said interrupting Naruto's ramblings.

That certainly stopped Naruto in his tracks.

"YAY! Ramen!" was the deafening cry that burst from his mouth, echoing out over Konoha.

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"Huh. Did you hear something?" the old man asked as he served a customer his noodles. Shaking his head the guy tucked into his meal greedily.

"I could have sworn I heard Naruto…"

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"Iesikmidas!" Naruto cried before he began to slurp up his blow of Ramen.

Kakashi wasn't eating anything himself, he never ate in public as it meant he had to pull down his mask.

Just looking at Naruto was making him full. He was on his sixth bowl but he was gulping it down like he hadn't eaten in a week!

Draining his bowl Naruto put it down with a satisfied sigh.

"Ah! I'm full. Ramen is so good!" he said as he stretched. "Why didn't you have anything to eat Kakashi?"

Seeing the narrowed eye as the jounin turned towards him Naruto stuttered in haste to correct himself: "I mean, Kakashi sensei!"

"I'm not particularly hungry." Kakashi said simply. Even if Naruto's disturbing eating habits hadn't put him off he wouldn't have eaten anyway.

It was dark already. The day had passed reasonably quickly from meeting Sasuke and Sakura, to chasing around after Naruto. They'd sat at the top of the Hokage cliff too for quite a while.

He was really pleased with his chat with Naruto. He may not have regained any of his memory but Naruto had calmed down and was almost back to his old self, even if he didn't remember what that was.

Reaching forward Kakashi paid his bill.

"Arigoto gozimas sensei!" Naruto cried.

"Wait a minute Naruto. Do you know the clearing just inside the woods where a stone memorial stands? There are three wooden stumps near it." Kakashi enquired.

"Yeah, I know the place you mean." Naruto said slowly.

"You're to be there first thing tomorrow for a day of training along with Sasuke and Sakura. Make sure you're there, ok?" Kakashi said as he watched his students face.

"I won't let you down!" Naruto smiled as he saluted.

"Good. I've got to go but I'll see you tomorrow morning. I suggest you go straight home." He said as he rose from his stool, leaving the warm light of the ramen stall before walking out into the evening air.

Getting up Naruto called "Thanks old man!" before he also disappeared into the darkness.

He wandered home in a kind of stupor. It had been a weird day. That morning he'd been chased by Kakashi in his female transformation all over Konoha but that evening he'd eaten ramen with him, so to speak. He hadn't actually eaten anything but that was beside the point.

Pushing open his front door Naruto walked into his darkened home, stumbling through the darkness feeling too lazy to turn on any lights.

Sitting on the edge of his bed he looked around his room. There was a picture frame sitting on the window ceil that he hadn't noticed the evening before.

Getting up Naruto turned on his bedroom light before turning back to the picture.

Picking up the picture he couldn't help but smile. There was Kakashi and himself. There was Sakura…ah, Sakura…

And Sasuke.

Putting the picture down Naruto closed his curtains before flopping down on his bed.

He had a feeling that tomorrow was going to be very interesting…

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Early morning sunshine flooded the clearing where Sasuke waited as the first member of team 7 to arrive. He knew Kakashi wouldn't arrive for at least a couple of hours but he didn't mind waiting alone.

Leaning against one of the wooden stumps Sasuke sighed.

Usually he was never this enthusiastic about training but he wanted to see Naruto. Kakashi had appeared briefly at his house last night to tell him where to meet and at what time, as well as saying that Naruto would be coming.

He couldn't wait to see Naruto.

The ghost of a smile touched upon his lips at this.

He wanted to fight Naruto to see how much he'd grow but to show that he would always be better, but would his loss of memory ruin the fight? He wanted Naruto at his best.

I bet Kakashi won't let me fight him anyway.

Folding his arms he closed his eyes. The brilliant sunshine warmed his dark shirt and hair as he stood waiting for time to pass.

The sound of distant footsteps intruded upon his thoughts, causing him to open his eyes.

"Yo." Kakashi said as he approached.

Early once again and no sign of a book.

"You're early Sasuke." His sensei said as he leant against the stump next to him.

"So are you." Sasuke replied.

The two fell silent.

Sasuke noticed after a while that Kakashi was staring in the direction of the memorial that was nearby. He's seen him there a couple of times. That was probably why he was so early; it was a short walk from the memorial.

"Ohio gozimas!" they heard Sakura's voice cry.

Materialising out of the shrubbery she joined the other two over by the stumps where she took up sitting on the third one.

"So Naruto's defiantly coming today is he sensei?" Sakura asked.

For an answer Kakashi merely smiled, showing the curving of his eye. Turning to face a distant patch of trees Kakashi stared patiently. Curios Sasuke and Sakura turned to see what he was looking at.

The branches and shrubbery were rustling, with the odd muttered comment or swear. A bright orange shape emerged out of the green.

Before them they saw a rather anxious looking Naruto.

Tilting his head, Sasuke watched the blond through narrowed eyes.

He didn't seem any different.

"Yo, Naruto. You found it ok?" Kakashi said cheerfully from where he stood leaning against the centre stump.

"Er, yeah." Naruto replied vaguely as he pulled a twig out of his hair. Naruto's eyes flicked over the three in front of him. It was rather intimidating the way they were sitting on the stumps in a row, watching him…

"Now that we're all here I'll tell you what we'll be doing today. We'll start with some all round training, doing a couple laps around Konoha, and then I want you to take it in turns sparring each other." Kakashi said. He didn't fail to notice the eager looks upon the two boy's faces compared to Sakura's disappointed one.

Yes, I'm going t get to fight Naruto.

Kakashi stared at them all for a moment longer before continuing:

"What are you waiting for? 3 laps around Konoha the return back here. Go!" Kakashi declared.

Turning uncertainly on the spot Naruto waited for Sasuke and Sakura to move ahead so he could follow them.

"Today's going to be interesting…" Kakashi mused before pulling a 'come come paradise' book out of his pocket to pass the time.

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Authors Rant:

I hope you found this chapter ok, I was trying to build it up for the next chapter where Naruto and Sasuke will have their first face off. I haven't written a detailed fight scene yet and so I'm a little worried : we'll see how it goes!

Thanks for reading:p until next time!